Department for Transport

Trains: Consumer Information

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 July (HL1422),why therail announcement telling passengers to report anything they deem suspicious to a member of staff or the British Transport Police is subsequently followed by the comment "see it, say it, sorted" as the word "sorted" may not be true.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The See It. Say It. Sorted. phrasing is an alliterative campaign slogan, which has been demonstrated to promote vigilance and improve recall of the method for contacting British Transport Police (BTP).The announcements successfully communicate the option of discretely reporting to BTP by text. This has translated into a higher volume of reports relating to criminality, including terrorism, on the railways, since the introduction of the campaign. It also encourages reporting through alternative means, such as speaking with a member of rail staff.Once a member of the public has reported a potential issue, they have done their part. The threat will be assessed, and if further follow up is required, it will be ‘sorted’ in the form of direct police engagement or a priority emergency response.

A303: Stonehenge

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government what area of the 21.16 hectare Bow Tie Field at Stonehenge would have to be compulsorily acquired for construction of a new dual carriageway, eastern tunnel portals and tunnels as a part of National Highways’ proposed A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down scheme.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The area within Bow Tie Field identified as being required for compulsory acquisition for construction of a new dual carriageway, eastern tunnel portals and tunnels are as follows:Approximately 4.54 hectares of permanent acquisition,Approximately 6.65 hectares of permanent subsoil (subterranean) rights for the tunnel.

Great British Railways

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to the establishment of Great British Railways; and if so, when they plan to announce details of its (1) headquarters, and (2) operation.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: We are committed to the creation of a guiding mind to bring the rail industry together to take decisions that are best for customers and taxpayers.Whilst we will not be taking forward primary legislation on rail reform in this session, we are committed to introducing such legislation when parliamentary time allows.We will shortly announce the town or city which will host the Headquarters of Great British Railways.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Weather: Forecasts

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what activities they are undertaking to support precision and reliability of atmospheric observation to improve weather forecasting.

Lord Callanan: Observations are an essential input in the production of weather forecasts. The Met Office utilises a comprehensive range of state of the art observing systems that fulfil a carefully prioritised set of requirements for measuring the atmosphere. These include satellites, weather radars, deep ocean buoys, radiosonde systems and land based observing stations across the UK and beyond. They are designed to meet detailed, internationally agreed performance standards and monitoring and incident management processes are in place to ensure compliance. The Met Office also has an ongoing research and development programme to exploit new technologies and deliver further enhancements to observations.

Energy: Meters

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking toprotect customers with prepayment energy meters this winter.

Lord Callanan: Many customers choose prepayment meters to help them budget and avoid going into debt. Ofgem rules require energy suppliers to offer emergency and additional support credit or alternative short-term support to help prepayment meter customers stay on supply. The Energy Price Guarantee will ensure that a typical household will pay on average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October 2022. This includes prepayment customers, and will save a typical household £1,000 a year based on current energy prices.

Energy: Meters

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number ofnew prepayment energy meters installed this upcoming winter.

Lord Callanan: Many customers prefer prepayment meters to help them budget. Ofgem’s License Conditions require suppliers to consider all options for appropriate debt management. This can include installing a prepayment meter, but suppliers have to consider whether this is safe and practicable, including whether a prepayment meter is appropriate for the specific customer. Ofgem rules restrict the force fitting of a prepayment meter to repay debt except as a last resort.

Energy: Meters

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) forced prepay energy meter installs, and (2) forced prepay energy meter switches, that will take place this winter.

Lord Callanan: The Government does not make an estimate of the number of prepayment meters installed or switched. The energy Regulator, Ofgem, has reported that the number of prepayment meters installed for debt under warrant in 2021 was 49,552. Ofgem rules restrict the force fitting of a prepayment meter to repay debt except as a last resort.

Energy: Conservation

Lord Pendry: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to communicate factual information to the public on how to save money on their energy bills.

Lord Callanan: The Government Help for Household campaign aims to increase the public’s awareness of support available to help with energy bills. The campaign website explains the government support available, including the Energy Price Guarantee and Energy Bills Support Scheme. It also provides homeowners with energy efficiency recommendations that could help save them hundreds of pounds a year. The Government continues to look at how Help for Households can signpost the public to information on how to cut their energy bills further. The Government is working with energy suppliers to ensure that they explain the support available on energy bills to their customers.

Renewable Energy: Profits

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they aretaking to ensure the planned cap on renewable energy revenues does not deter investment into the UK.

Lord Callanan: Renewable electricity generation will be key to securing more low-cost homegrown energy. The Government will support investment in the sector through the UK’s flagship scheme for low carbon generation (Contracts for Difference) which from next year will move to annual auctions. This will help further accelerate the deployment of clean, low-cost generation. The precise mechanics of the temporary Cost-Plus Revenue Limit will be subject to a consultation to be launched shortly, enabling those affected to share their views. The measure will allow generators to cover their costs and receive an appropriate revenue that reflects their operational output, investment commitment and risk profile.

Climate Change

Baroness Whitaker: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to obtain agreement for climate change mitigation measures through the World Trade Organization.

Lord Callanan: The UK is working with international partners to help tackle climate change and champion the multilateral trading system through the World Trade Organisation, in line with our global ambition on climate change. The UK is actively engaged at the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) and the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD) group to accelerate progress towards multilateral solutions, including to promote trade in environmental goods and services and find solutions to help mitigate carbon leakage risk.

Department of Health and Social Care

Sickle Cell Diseases: Prescriptions

Baroness Benjamin: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia reportNo One's Listening: An Inquiry into the Avoidable Deaths and Failures of Care for Sickle Cell Patients in Secondary Care, published on 15 November 2021, what assessment they have made of the impact of prescription charges for people with sickle cell disease.

Baroness Benjamin: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the affordability of medication for people living with sickle cell disease.

Baroness Benjamin: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce free NHS prescriptions for medical conditions with existing health inequalities, such as sickle cell disease.

Lord Markham: No specific assessment has been made and there are no current plans to review or extend the prescription charge medical exemptions list to include long term conditions, such as sickle cell disease.Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge and there are a range of exemptions from prescription charges for which those with sickle cell disease may meet the eligibility criteria and be in receipt of free prescriptions. To support those who do not qualify for an exemption from prescription charges, the cost of prescriptions can be capped by purchasing a prescription pre-payment certificate, which can be paid for in instalments. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week. Additionally, those on a low income who do not qualify for an exemption from prescription charges can also seek help under the NHS Low Income Service, which provides help with health costs on an income-related basis.

Ministry of Justice

Criminal Cases Review Commission: Finance

Lord James of Blackheath: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the Criminal Cases Review Commission has sufficient resources to speed up its consideration of cases.

Lord Bellamy: In the last two years, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has increased the Criminal Cases Review Commission’s (CCRC) budget from £6.015m in 2020/21 to £6.998m this year. This represents an increase of £983,000 or 16% of the 2020/21 budget. A capital budget totalling £1.58m has also been provided to improve its infrastructure, so that it can meet its targets on timeliness of case reviews.The funding allocation to the CCRC is reviewed each year, in consultation with the CCRC itself, as part of setting budgets so the CCRC can continue to carry out its statutory functions effectively.

Women's Centres: Finance

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the sufficiency of the £24 million of new funding for Women’s Centres announced on 1 September in (a) preventing the closure of any of the existing 40 such Centres, and (b) enabling the opening of new Centres in areas where offending by women is most prevalent; and (2) the extent to which such funding can reduce the need to provide new prison spaces for women.

Lord Bellamy: On 1 September 2022, we announced new investment of up to £24 million in the period 2022 to 2025 to support women in or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system: Millions invested to support female offenders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This includes up to £12 million available to pay the core costs of women’s community sector organisations, reflecting historic demand in the sector for running costs and overheads, which are not always covered through wider local and national funding streams. Core costs funding will be allocated to the twelve probation regions in England and Wales in proportion to women’s community caseload in each region.In addition, up to £8.4 million is available to invest in new services and interventions.The continued existence and viability of the women’s community sector is vital to support the delivery of the main aims of the Government’s Female Offender Strategy, particularly fewer women entering the criminal justice system and fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, and a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully.New accommodation that is decent, safe and secure and supports the modernisation of the prison estate is under development to improve custodial conditions for women. Should these places not be required in future we have committed to using them to close down existing older, less suitable accommodation in the women’s estate.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Development Aid: Disclosure of Information

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have tomake public records of gender programme spending by (1) the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, (2) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and (3) the government as a whole.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: In 2020 (the latest available year for Official Development Assistance (ODA) reporting), 6% of ODA funded Conflict Stability Security Fund (CSSF) programmes (£36 million) had gender as a main objective, while 65% (£348 million) of programmes had a significant gender component. Summaries of CSSF programmes are available online:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/conflict-stability-and-security-fund-programme-summariesODA reporting for 2021 is not yet available.Spending for the current financial year will be announced, as usual, when the Written Ministerial Statement to accompany the CSSF Annual Report is laid before Parliament, later in the year. This ensures that Ministers retain sufficient in-year flexibility to pivot funding in delivery of the most pressing national security objectives.At this stage we don't have further plans to make public our records of gender programme spending.

Conflict Resolution: Females

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have toset up a dedicated budget for the implementation of theWomen, Peace and Security National Action Plan.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: HMG does not have a dedicated budget to support the National Action Plan (NAP). However, multiple cross government funds support Women Peace and Security objectives. Additionally, from April 2022 all Conflict, Stability and Security Fun (CSSF) projects will be assessed using a new Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) MarkerIn 2020 (the latest available year for ODA reporting), 6% of ODA funded CSSF programmes (£36 m) had gender as a main objective, while 65% (£348m) of programmes had a significant gender component.

Refugee Convention

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to review the 1951 United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees with a view to supporting its modernisation, and (2) to notify the UN Secretary-General under Article 45 of the Convention of any proposed revisions to the Convention and Protocol, asking that they be put to the UN General Assembly for consideration.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government does not currently have plans to renegotiate the Convention and its Protocol.

Palestinians: Non-governmental Organisations

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: To ask His Majesty's Government which Palestinian registered non-governmental organisations they fund; and with which they have contact.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: UK aid provides humanitarian and development assistance to some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in the world. In doing so, we partner with a wide range of organisations who are best placed to deliver these much-needed services. Civil society organisations play an important role in upholding human rights and democracy, and they must be able to operate freely in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). More information about UK development programmes in the OPTs and our partners can be found on DevTracker.https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-1-300667/summary

Dubai: Migrant Workers

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the government of Dubai is holding approximately 450 migrant workers in detention centres pending forced deportation and subjecting them to harsh treatment and squalid conditions; and what representations they have made, if any, to the government of Dubai on this matter.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We encourage all states, including the United Arab Emirates, to uphold international human rights obligations. We are aware of these reports but have not raised this issue with the Dubai authorities.

Abduljalil al-Singace

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they plan to make, if any, to the government of Bahrain about the (1) imprisonment, and (2) prospects of release from imprisonment, of Dr Abduljalil al-Singace.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We continue to monitor and discuss the case of Dr Abduljalil al-Singace and others as necessary, with the Bahraini Government as well as with the oversight bodies.

Bahrain: Capital Punishment

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in conducting Overseas, Security and Justice Assistance assessments for 2020-21 for programmes delivered under the Gulf Strategy Fund, they have sought an assurance from the government of Bahrain that the practise of the death penalty will no longer be carried out.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK's long-standing policy is to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances, in all countries, as a matter of principle, which we have made clear on a regular basis to the Government of Bahrain.

Bahrain: Human Rights

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and DemocracyThe Court is Satisfied with the Confession, published on 10 October; and in particular its findings that (1) there are serious and persistent human rights violations in cases of eight death row inmates in Bahrain, and (2) beneficiaries of the Gulf Strategy Fund are associated with abuses.

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations in the report by Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and DemocracyThe Court is Satisfied with the Confession, published on 10 October, that they (1) urge the government of Bahrain to implement the report’s recommendations, (2) suspend funding, support, technical assistance and training for security services and the judiciary until Bahrain enacts and complies with the recommendations in the report, and (3) urge the government of Bahrain to halt all executions and investigate torture allegations and violations of the right to a fair trial.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK government uses a range of reports and analyses and is aware of these cases. The UK's long-standing policy is to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances, in all countries, as a matter of principle, which we have made clear on a regular basis to the Government of Bahrain.

Mohamed Ramadan

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government, when were the last five occasions they raised the case ofMohammed Ramadhan with the government of Bahrain; what was the title of the UK representative who raised the case; and what was the title of the Bahraini representative or authority with whom the case was raised.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK's long-standing policy is to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances, in all countries, as a matter of principle, which we have made clear on a regular basis to the Government of Bahrain. This includes regarding the case of Mohammed Ramadhan and others.

Nicaragua: Political Prisoners

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the video address by Arturo McFields, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) on 23 March, in which he said that “there are more than 177 political prisoners” and that “more than 350 people have lost their lives” since the anti-government protests that took place in Nicaragua in 2018.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK Government has publicly commended the courage of Arturo McFields, Nicaragua's former Ambassador to the Organization of American States, for bravely denouncing the Ortega-Murillo regime's dictatorship. The UK has been vocal in condemning the Nicaraguan Government's crackdown on fundamental rights and freedoms since the events of 2018 and last year's undemocratic elections. We have raised the issue of the deteriorating political and human rights situation with Nicaraguan Government representatives in London, in Managua, at multilateral fora and publicly through a series of statements. The UK continues to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Nicaragua, including opposition leaders and for the full restoration of all their civil and political rights.

Department for Work and Pensions

Water: Death

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of data from (1) the Royal Life Saving Society, and (2) the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, that there were at least 50 water-related deaths between June and 16 August this year; and what steps they will take to enhance prevention measures for water-related deaths in the future.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: No formal assessment has been made from the data. However, the Cabinet Office are leading on a cross-government exercise on inland water safety.

Universal Credit: Uprating

Lord Pendry: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase Universal Credit in line with inflation.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: The Secretary of State has a statutory annual obligation to review state pensions and benefits including Universal Credit. His review will commence following the publication of the relevant indices by the Office for National Statistics and his decisions will be announced to Parliament shortly.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Subsidies

Baroness Boycott: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to replace the single farm payment.

Lord Benyon: We intend to phase out untargeted Direct Payments in England by the end of 2027. We are making a range of offers available to suit all farm types. Everything we are offering contributes to our 3 goals: supporting viable businesses; maintaining food production at its current level; and achieving animal health, welfare and climate outcomes. We are offering a range of environmental land management schemes. In addition, we are offering other schemes and grants to help achieve our 3 goals. We launched funding for equipment, technology, and infrastructure that improves farm productivity and benefits the environment through the Farming Investment Fund. Through the Farming Innovation Programme, we intend to unlock further innovation within the farming sector and contribute towards growth by supporting the development and adoption of new innovation by farmers and growers to ensure it can make a real difference.

Agricultural Products: Northern Ireland

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost to date of the Movement Assistance Scheme since its creation.

Lord Benyon: The total cost of the Movement Assistance Scheme up to 31 August 2022, the latest date for which data is available, was £17.92 million.

Agriculture: Research

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government what plansthey have to increase scientific research into (1) organic, (2) biodynamic, (3) permaculture, and (4) aquaculture, methods of food production, and their potential benefits for public health

Lord Benyon: Defra's agri-food evidence programme supports the productivity, environmental sustainability, risks and trade-offs of farming systems.Defra's research portfolio includes: examination of sustainable, agro-ecological, and organic food systems; investigating securing future food and nutrient supply, while also responding to consumer demand for a diverse, healthy, safe, and attractive diet. Research also explores future innovation possibilities for sustainable food production, including integrated fish production techniques, controlled environment horticulture technology, in conjunction with permaculture and agroforestry approaches; and aquaculture systems.The Seafood Innovation Fund, part of the £100 million UK Seafood Fund, was set up to support the long-term future and sustainability of the UK fisheries and seafood sector. It funds various innovative projects, ideas and technologies in fisheries and aquaculture where research on reducing public health risk and the potential benefit for human health is within scope.Defra partners with UK Research & Innovation which leads the 'Transforming the UK Food System Programme'. This £47.5 million research programme supports a food system which places healthy people and a healthy natural environment at its centre, considering the complex interactions between health, environment and socioeconomic factors.Additionally, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research & Innovation, also has a long-term strategic commitment to supporting bioscience for sustainable agriculture and food, delivering more productive, healthy, resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems.

Biofuels: Subsidies

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government whetherthey will end subsidies on land used for growing crops for bio-fuel.

Lord Benyon: The United Kingdom's main scheme supporting biofuels is the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a certificate trading scheme administered by the Department for Transport. The RTFO is not a direct land or biofuel crop subsidy. Where biofuels deliver significant carbon savings and meet stringent sustainability criteria then the supply of biofuels, as distinct from land used for growing crops, will continue to be eligible for reward under the RTFO scheme. The RTFO provides greater incentives for waste-derived biofuels compared with crop-based biofuels and includes a cap on the amount of crop-based biofuels that may count towards supplier targets.In 2020 just under 36,000 hectares of British crops were used for biofuels supplied to the British road transport market, which equates to 0.6% of the total arable area of the United Kingdom. While growing crops for the biofuel sector offers farmers more routes to market for their harvest and flexibility in their crop rotations, consideration must also be given to land biodiversity or carbon-store value.HM Government recognises the importance of food security, which is why we published the Food Strategy earlier this year. The Food Strategy puts food security at the heart of HM Government's vision for the food sector. It aims to broadly maintain the current level of food that we produce domestically and to boost production in sectors where there are the biggest opportunities.

Food Supply

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that (1) farms, (2) food producers, (3) manufacturers, and (4) packagers, remain in business during this period of heightened energy costs in order to prevent a food shortage.

Lord Benyon: While no national government can control the global factors pushing up the cost of energy, we will continue to support British business.The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a price reduction to make sure that all businesses, including chemical companies, and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. Non-domestic customers do not need to take action or apply to the scheme - support will automatically be applied to bills.In addition, we have more than doubled our support for high energy usage businesses, reduced employer national insurance, slashed fuel duty, introduced a 50% business rates relief for eligible high street businesses and put the brakes on bill increases by freezing the business rates multiplier - worth £4.6 billion over the next five years.HM Government is also supporting businesses to improve their energy efficiency by at least 20% by 2030. This could deliver up to £6 billion in cost savings by 2030.We have extended the Energy Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme by three years and more than doubled its budget.The United Kingdom has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.

Cabinet Office

Honours

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government whether, and if so when, resignation honours lists will be published following the resignations of (1) Boris Johnson, and (2) Liz Truss.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: It is a long-standing convention that individuals can be nominated for an honour in recognition of their public and political service, and that Prime Ministers can draw up a ‘Dissolution’ or ‘Resignation’ List (after a general election or when resigning from office). This has been the case under past governments from across the political spectrum.It would not be appropriate to speculate on any possible Resignation Honours Lists which is a matter for both former Prime Ministers and the current Prime Minister.

Public Duty Costs Allowance

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the outgoing Prime Minister, Liz Truss, will receive the Public Duty Cost Allowance.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Former Prime Ministers are entitled to claim the Public Duty Costs Allowance, which provides reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office and secretarial costs arising from the fulfilment of public duties. The annual amount received by each claimant is published each year in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.Information about the Public Duty Costs Allowance is available on GOV.UK, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-duty-cost-allowance/public-duty-costs-allowance-guidance.

Public Duty Costs Allowance

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the value of the Public Duty Cost Allowance; and whether they stipulate how it is spent.

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government who currently receives the Public Duty Cost Allowance; and how much they receive.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Public Duty Cost Allowance (PDCA) is a payment for reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office and secretarial costs arising from fulfilling public duties, to a maximum of £115,000 per annum.All former Prime Ministers’ are eligible to draw on the PDCA. They cannot claim the allowance if they are serving as Leader of the Opposition.The annual amount received by each PDCA claimant is published each year in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts available online at: Cabinet Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UKFurther information about the PDCA is available online at: Public Duty Costs Allowance guidance - GOV.UK

Offshore Structures: Protection

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan(HL2382), whether the Cabinet Office coordination of departmental actions takes place from an operations room in real time; and whether this functions 24 hours per day.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Foreign Policy and National Security Secretariat (FPNSS) within the Cabinet Office works with responsible departments across Whitehall to coordinate policy on the resilience of subsea and offshore infrastructure. This policy coordination role compliments broader horizon scanning efforts within the department which aim to identify potential risks to infrastructure through early warning mechanisms or relevant intelligence.Where crises impacting this infrastructure do materialise and could harm the UK’s national security, the Cabinet Office's National Security Watchkeepers, a team responsible for monitoring open source and government reporting tools on a 24/7 basis, alert the relevant teams within government.Following any crisis notification, it is up to the relevant policy team in the FPNSS to work with the lead government department to assess the level of risk, identify any impacts and outline the appropriate next steps which HMG needs to take, including the activation of crisis machinery within the Cabinet Office where required.

Treasury

National Savings and Investments: Premium Bonds

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they haveto increase the amount of money which individuals can hold in National Savings Premium Bonds.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Government does not currently have plans to change the amount of money which individuals can hold in Premium Bonds. However, the Government keeps this under review to ensure that the limit continues to reflect the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial sector.

Trader Support Service

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost to date of the Trader Support Service.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The total cost of the Trader Support Service from its inception to September 2022 is £309 million.

National Insurance Contributions: Limited Liability

Lord Leigh of Hurley: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of national insurance contributions which would be raised if all partners of Limited Liability Partnerships were subject to employers' National Insurance contributions.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: No such assessment has been carried out as the Government has no current plans to subject members of a Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). Individual members of LLPs are taxed in the same way as partners in a general partnership, paying Class 4 and Class 2 NICs like other partners and self-employed individuals. If members fall within the salaried member rules introduced by the Finance Act 2014, they are taxed as employees, paying Class 1 NICs.

UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government which schemes they have introduced to facilitate trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland since the introduction of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Since the introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP), the Government has introduced a range of schemes intended to help facilitate trade between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI), including:The Trader Support Service, which provides guidance to traders and completes customs declarations on their behalf;The UK Trader Scheme, which allows authorised traders to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without paying duty;The Customs Duty Waiver Scheme, which allows traders to claim duty waivers within applicable limits; andThe Movement Assistance Scheme, which provides additional support for traders moving agri-food goods from GB to NI.

Retail Trade: Money

Lord Stone of Blackheath: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of retailers no longer accepting cash as a form of payment; and what steps they will take to ensure that cash is accepted in all retail establishments.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: As technology and consumer behaviour changes, it should remain the choice of individual organisations as to whether to accept or decline any form of payment, including cash or card, based on their consideration of factors such as customer preference and cost. Nonetheless, the Government recognises that many people continue to transact in cash across the UK and engages closely with financial regulators to monitor and assess trends relating to cash. Research undertaken by the Financial Conduct Authority found that 98% of small businesses would never turn away a customer if they needed to pay by cash. The Government has introduced legislation to protect access to cash across the UK to Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the Financial Conduct Authority as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to ensure that people can continue to access cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. This legislation will support local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they have reasonable access to deposit facilities. Further details about the Financial Services and Markets Bill can be found on the Parliament website.

The Senior Deputy Speaker

Peers: Allowances

Lord Marlesford: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what would be the rate of attendance allowance for Members of the House of Lords in October 2022 if it had been upratedin line with inflation since it was introduced at £300.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Daily Allowance rate was introduced on 1 October 2010 at £300 per day. Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for October 2022 are expected to be released by the Office for National Statistics on 16 November. It is therefore not yet possible to calculate a figure for the Daily Allowance adjusted for inflation by CPI for the month of October 2022.Based on September CPI figures, if the Daily Allowance rate had been adjusted annually for inflation, it would be £417 per day from 1 September 2022.